From Engadget · Jackson Chen · · 1m 20s
Apple's iPhone controller may wear a Beats logo
Two gaming controllers are in development at Apple, and the first one out may not carry the Apple name at all.
In brief
Two gaming controllers are in development at Apple, and the first one out may not carry the Apple name at all. Apple is testing the gaming controller market behind the Beats brand, where a cheaper, louder product carries less risk than an Apple-logo launch. Originally reported by Engadget.
Apple wants into gaming hardware
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple has spent more than a year building gaming controllers for iPhone, a product category it has never sold under its own name.
Code in macOS gave it away
A MacRumors reader found references in a macOS release candidate to two hardware devices with dual thumbsticks, shoulder buttons and D-pads.
Two controllers, two codenames
The devices are known internally as T6502 and T1057. Beats executives are handling the product engineering and the concept work, not Apple's own hardware team.
“these two controllers codenamed T6502 and T1057 are being developed under the Beats brand”
Apple already sells rivals
Its online store carries third-party controllers from Backbone and SteelSeries, so Apple knows the demand exists before committing its own logo to a pad.
Beats is the low-risk lab
Gurman suggests Apple is using Beats to test unfamiliar territory. Skip the premium materials and styling, and the controller lands at a friendlier price.
The audience already overlaps
Gamers and Beats owners share a lot of taste and culture, making the brand a natural fit. Gurman gave no timeline for an Apple-branded controller.
The takeaway
Apple is testing the gaming controller market behind the Beats brand, where a cheaper, louder product carries less risk than an Apple-logo launch.
